Another victory
James Harden has 37 points and 10 assists against Knicks.
The Rockets’ fourth consecutive blowout victory seemed guaranteed, then looked threatened but proved inevitable Saturday night in a 117-102 rout of the Knicks at Toyota Center.
The Knicks, who scratched starting center Kristaps Porzingis and forward Enes Kanter because of back injuries, plunged the Rockets into a 22-point deficit in the first quarter.
Then the Rockets climbed back with boosts off the bench from Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, launched to their first lead because of a scalding stretch from Trevor Ariza and extended a 23-point fourth-quarter lead when James Harden continued feasting on the Knicks.
Chris Paul struggled on 2 of 12 shooting but had 13 assists.
Harden pours in 37
Harden had 37 points with 10 assists.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek lowered the expectations for his players before the game.
He told them to “go out there and play as hard as you can,” even if only for “four minutes.”
But the Knicks started out by playing possum. The Rockets appeared caught off guard, taking the opposition for granted.
Coach Mike D’Antoni said because of the absence of Porzingis the Rockets “did not come out totally focused.”
“We weren’t in passing lanes, we weren’t into the ball on pick-and-rolls,” Harden said.
By 7:53 in the first quarter, the Knicks led 15-3, shot 7-for-9, and forced D’Antoni to call his first timeout.
The Knicks’ Michael Beasley torched his former team. Beasley had 24 points in the first half.
“His whole career that’s what he does,” D’Antoni said. “He can score in bucket loads. He went off and had a great game.”
After the Knicks stretched a 22-point lead, on their way to 39 points in the first quarter, Anderson (17 points in 20 minutes) and Gordon came off the bench to shoot the Rockets back into the game.
In his return from calf tightness, Gordon scored all eight of his points Saturday in the first half, but that is when the Rockets needed them the most.
During a 34-17 run for the Rockets, Anderson hit five of six shots, three 3-pointers, and Gordon shouldered past Beasley to cut the Knicks’ lead to five points.
“If you get a breakdown here or there, they make you pay by hitting 3,” Hornacek said.
Demoralizing 3s
The Rockets hit six 3-point shots in the third quarter.
“That depletes any team,” Beasley said.
The Rockets focused on defense after getting pounced. They subdued the Knicks enough by halftime to close their lead to 61-58 and slow their shooting to 58.1 percent.
The Rockets flipped the game in the third quarter, when they held the Knicks to 13 points. After going scoreless in the first half, Ariza catalyzed the Rockets’ return to normalcy with 13 points in five-plus minutes.
Blistering offense
With a rebound by Tucker, an outlet pass to Paul, a pass back to Tucker and a one-handed rope from Tucker tossed across the court for a corner 3 by Ariza, the second-best offense in basketball looked restored.
“The key for everybody is just being patient and waiting for your turn to come,” Ariza said.
Ariza’s dunk off a fast break and corner 3 in consecutive plays forced a Knicks timeout, with the Rockets’ lead at 71-63, their largest of the game up to that point.
After his electric stretch — shooting 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 on 3s — Ariza went silent.
Harden got into a better rhythm, following his 15 first-half points with 14 in the third quarter.
Even Paul dropped in a 3. The fourth quarter was a matter of keep-away more than consistency. Beasley slowed, scoring only six more points in the second half.
As a testament to their surge, the Rockets finished with 12 steals.
“Any time we’re in transition, we’re really good,” D’Antoni said. “That’s where we gotta stay.”
By the final buzzer, with the Knicks lurching off the court and the Rockets done winding down the clock, both teams looked the same as they had at the start.